Fire tears through refugee camp in northern Greece, destroying a dozen tents
A fire tore through a refugee camp in northern Greece on Wednesday, threatening more than 2,300 people who live there.
More than one dozen tents were destroyed in the blaze.
Humanitarian organizations have criticized the conditions in Greek camps where many refugees and migrants have been stranded for months after trying to make their way into western Europe.
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Tens of thousands have been living in makeshift camps across the country since Balkan nations further along the route into Europe closed their borders.
Police said at least two people were taken to a hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.
Journalist Tania Karas shared footage sent to her from a refugee inside the camp on Wednesday that shows a dark cloud of smoke rising above the camp.
The blaze started from a tent in the Diavata camp, near the northern city of Thessaloniki, and spread to others, leaving at least 13 dwellings burnt.
Other videos shared from inside the camp show crowds of people running from the black, billowing smoke.
It was not immediately clear what sparked the fire, which firefighters extinguished. A protest by about 100 people in the camp followed, with half of them spilling out onto the road and attempting to block traffic.
Just over 2,300 refugees live in the camp. About 54,000 refugees and migrants are stranded in Greece after Europe closed its land borders to the massive refugee flow.
Additional information from the Associated Press.
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Megan Specia was Mashable's Assistant Real-Time News Editor and joined the team in September 2014. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism & Mass Communications from the University of New Hampshire after growing up in the Jersey 'burbs. She made her way to New York via a four year stopover in Dublin. Megan previously worked as a journalist and editor at Storyful in both Dublin and New York. Before all of that, though, her claim to fame was as head cake arranger and purveyor of all things sweet at Queen of Tarts cafe in Dublin, where she developed a serious addiction to macarons.
